Katie Haun found herself on a debate stage in Mexico City in 2018 against Nobel Prizewinning economist Paul Krugman, when Bitcoin was selling at about $4,000 and most Americans, at least, believed that cryptocurrencies were just a passing tren d. Haun diverted the discussion from Krugman’s attention on the volatile price fluctuations of Bitcoin to stablecoins.
At the stage, she made the case that “stablecoins are extreme ly intriguing and really crucial to this ecosystem to hedge against that volatility,” describing how digital tokens based on the US dollar might provide the advantages of blockchain technology without the volatility of more established cryptocurrencies.
Krugman completely rejected the notion.
Although it was not a major turning point in Haun’s career, it was one of several events that shaped it. Haun, a former federal prosecutor, has a unique history in cryptocurrency trading, having established the first cryptocurrency task force in government and spent more than ten years looking into financial crimes. She coled Andreessen Horowitz’s cryptocurrency funds and became the firm’s first female partner in 2018. In 2022, she established Haun Ventures, which managed more than $1.5 billion in assets.
There have been challenges in hanging her own shingle. The two have not officially co-invested in anything since she created her fund, despite her position at a16z and the industry ties that came with it. Haun also resigned from Coinbase’s board last year, while Marc Andreessen is still a director.
She acknowledged they are not precisely collaborators but played down any potential conflict when asked about her relationship with Andreessen Horowitz on Wednesday night at TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event. Echoing this editor’s inquiry about if there is any arrangement to avoid competing with her former company, she stated, “There is no ‘gentleman’s agreement.'” Indeed, I continue to communicate with Andreessen Horowitz. It is true that we have not really done any business together lately.
The apparent absence of co-investment may be a reflection of the competitive nature of the sector or the difficulties of leaving one of Silicon Valley’s most well-known companies to go up against old coworkers. In any event, stablecoins—cryptocurrencies that are based on conventional assets like the US dollar—are at the center of Haun’s current path, which she is defining on her own.
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